If you missed the original announcement, Shield is literally Nvidia’s play to get directly into the mobile gaming hardware business. The handheld device is shaped like a Microsoft Xbox 360 controller with two important additions: A 5-inch 720p touchscreen display and bass reflex stereo speakers. Inside Shield is Nvidia’s Tegra 4 chip with 72 custom GPU cores and four Cortex-A15 CPU cores. Essentially, this is a mobile gaming console with hardware controls.

I was impressed by the device demo I saw in January: Not only does Shield play Google Android games it supports game streaming from a PC, provided that computer has an NVIDIA GeForce GTX GPU inside. Nvidia has also worked with Steam — an online computer gaming distribution company — to get PC quality games on Shield. I’m leery about the price, however.

Sony’s PS Vita is at least $100 below the $349 Nvidia Shield price, and Sony’s game machine isn’t the hottest seller right now. Instead, mobile gaming has increasingly moved towards tablets and smartphones instead of dedicated mobile game consoles.

I know that Shield has all of the whiz-bang features essential to mobile gaming — solid controls, a fast processor and multiple graphics cores, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and a 720p display — but I have doubts about the market supporting the $349 price tag. Perhaps I’ll feel differently when I have the chance to spend more time with the device. For now, my enthusiasm for Nvidia Shield is somewhat diminished.

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The Tegra 4 handset is anticipated in the first half of 2013 according to Nvidia, and follows ZTE’s use of Nvidia’s Tegra 2 and 3 processors and Icera modem in earlier phones. It’s also the beginning of handsets designed to wow users with full HD playback and other features that require some serious processing power.

Nvidia isn’t the only company pushing more powerful application processors and flexible modems; ST-Ericsson announced a 3GHz monstrosity today as part of its NovaThor line of integrated chips. While ST-Ericsson is only showing off a prototype, the specs clearly show that it too has visions of faster phones that require a lot of processing power.

The NovaThor also supports a huge variety of mobile radio technologies that make it useful in many geographic areas. For those who want to get technical, the NovaThor L8580 supports downlink speeds up to 150Mbps as well as LTE-FDD, LTE-TDD, HSPA+, GSM and TD-SCDMA. It has up to 17 bands in the same device and a single radio for carrier aggregation, which is what enables it to tune into frequencies in many markets. Like Broadcom’s latest modem, ST-Ericsson and Nvidia are pushing the bar when it comes to building radios that can travel far and wide even if a country uses different frequencies for their LTE deployments.

In many ways the future of phones is the same has it had been, more performance in more places. Technology is awesome.

The story was corrected on Feb. 21 to reflect the fact that ZTE is launching two phones one with the Tegra 4 and one later, using the i500 modem.

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The Tegra 4i could support delivery of 1080p video playback on a 5-inch screen, according to the reference design Nvidia showed off with the launch (see above). The Nvidia spokesman expects features like the HD playback to become mainstream by the time these chips hit the market at the end of 2013.

Nvidia, which entered the smartphone market in 2008 with its Tegra application processor that combined its graphics processors with an ARM-based core, has high hopes for the mobile market. But its first iterations were hampered by a lack of integrated modem on the chips like Qualcomm offered. An integrated modem lowers the number of parts inside the phone as well as the overall cost.

In 2011 Nvidia purchased Icera, which makes a software defined radio that will tune into a variety of frequencies. The Tegra 4i is its first chip that integrates the Icera chip on the same die as the Tegra application processor. Thus, the chip with support LTE as well as versions of HSPA in use by U.S. carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile.

The integration will deliver a smaller chip (made at the 28 nanometer process node) that will presumably consume less power. However, in a conference call ahead of the launch, Nvidia’s spokesman didn’t have specifics on the processor’s affect on battery life — a criticism that has dogged the Nvidia chips in the past.

From a spec side, the 4i will deliver up to 2.3 GHz and compares with Qualcomm’s chips using its Krait processor. The chip uses the ARM Cortex-A9 as opposed to the ARM A15 chip the Tegra 4 will use, and it has 60 CPU cores. While not designed for tablets, it’s conceivable that the smaller, cheaper tablets might well use the Tegra 4i design according to the Nvidia spokesman.

As we head into the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona we’re likely to see several chip and handset design announcements as well as a peek into the smartphones we’ll be using next year.

This story was corrected at 11 a.m. on Feb. 19 to reflect that Nvidia purchased Icera in 2011 not in 2009.

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At the end of the week, Nvidia showed off the Real Boxing game title on Project Shield, focusing on in-game lighting, graphics and general game play:

Nvidia plans a continuing series of Project Shield videos, which will help to keep interest high. But regardless of how excited the Android and gaming communities could be based on demonstrations, success is likely to come down to the handheld’s price. I’m still hoping to see Project Shield debut at $250 or less, but many in the industry that I’ve spoken to expect a price at or north of $300.

If Project Shield isn’t big enough for you, perhaps the LG Optimus G Pro is: Phone Arena captured an image of the phone and  compiled a list of specifications of this handset with 5.5-inch display.

That’s as large as my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 phone, but LG is one-upping Samsung: The Optimus G Pro is expected to have a full HD screen with 1920 x 1080 resolution. Additional specs include a quad-core 1.7 GHz processor, 2 GB of memory, 13 megapixel camera 32 GB of internal storage and high-capacity 3,140 mAh battery. I’d expect the phone to run all day (and then some) on a single charge, even with the higher resolution display.

Unlike the Optimus G Pro, I can’t run all day. When I do run, though, I tend to use mobile apps or a smartwatch to track my exercise. This week, RunKeeper for Android got a refresh that improves on what I think was already a great app.

RunKeeper version 3 for Android has a new look and feel because the team used Google’s Android development guidelines for the redesign. The software also adds some new features including in-activity splits, a tab to view your personal goals and stats, improved audio cues in workouts and workout reminders. Many of these functions were already available in RunKeeper for iOS so it’s good to see the Android version catch up in this functionality race.

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Indeed, I was surprised when no hardware makers announced actual upcoming products with a Tegra 4 at Nvidia’s CES press event last month. Instead, the company showed off its own hardware: The Project Shield gaming handheld powered by a Tegra 4 chip. Recently, there have been rumors that Nvidia will create its own reference hardware around the Tegra 4, in order to help partners create new products quicker.

Perhaps then, such a reference device is a Chromebook that’s not only powered by Nvidia, but branded with the company name as well.

Samsung, which has more experience building laptops, does this with its own Chromebook and Exynos 5, which uses a dual-core Cortex-A15 architecture. Performance of the chip while running Google’s Chrome OS is acceptable, but slower than the Intel-powered Chromebooks. A Tegra 4 Chromebook may be a step faster as the new Tegra uses a quad-core A15 design.

If a Tegra-powered Chromebook were to come to market, the most likely launch time would be this year’s Google I/O event taking place in May. It’s possible we see such a device prior to that since it seems everyone is starting to jump on the Chrome OS bandwagon — HP is the latest, having launched a 14-inch Chromebook earlier this week — but I have my doubts that we’ll see anything before Google I/O.

Then again, if Nvidia doesn’t get some products with Tegra 4 in them soon, it may push this testing and integration effort forward and we see a Chromebook powered by Nvidia sooner than later.

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Although Project Shield was demonstrated on stage at CES, Nvidia is planning a number of weekly follow-up videos to show off the product. The first is now online and while it’s clearly an attempt to market the handheld and highlight the Tegra 4 chip capabilities, I think it’s worth sharing for two reasons. First, few people have really seen this device in action and second, the product may be the best yet at bringing true PC gaming to portable devices.

This particular demo focuses more on streaming a game from the PC to Project Shield, so I doubt the Tegra 4 chip is working hard; the device is essentially a remote client to the local computer or Wi-Fi. Still, there doesn’t appears to be any lag at all, which is both impressive and necessary for this type of gaming solution.

I’m definitely interested in seeing demonstrations of how Android games look and run on Project Shield because gamers aren’t always near their PC for game streaming. Prior games optimized for the Tegra 3 were impressive and I expect more of the same on Project Shield.

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Leyden Energy was founded in 2007 (formerly called Mobius Power) with a patent acquired from chemical giant Dupont, and a $4.5 million investment from investors. Leyden’s original secret sauce is an innovation for the electrolyte part of the battery. A battery has a positive and a negative plate and then an electrolyte in between, which is the substance through which electrons transfer back and forth while the battery charges and discharges.

In addition to its electrolyte innovation, Leyden also has a new breakthrough technology for a silicon anode that boosts the energy density (amount of energy stored per volume) and enables the battery to be made in a very slim form factor. Many battery companies combine next-generation technology in each part of the battery to produce a better whole battery in production.

Making lithium ion batteries slim is a priority for Leyden. It’s recently been focused on tablets and consumer electronics and announced an effort with chipmaker NVIDIA to design tablets; it also has been courting makers of chargers for smart phones and devices for personal Wi-Fi hot spots. A couple years ago Leyden launched a replacement lithium-ion battery for laptops that won’t degrade (start losing its full charge) for at least three years, and will come with a three-year warranty.

Start-stop vehicle tech, which uses a battery to automatically cut off the engine of a gas-powered vehicle while it’s idling, is another target area for Leyden. Start-stop vehicle technology is starting to gain momentum in Europe, following carbon reduction regulations, and the technology can reduce fuel use by 5 to 12 percent.

These are difficult times for battery startups right now, particularly those that were hoping the electric car market would take off faster than it has. Lithium ion battery leader A123 Systems recently went bankrupt and then was sold to Chinese auto parts giant Wanxiang. Battery maker Ener1 also filed for bankruptcy last year.

But there’s still some rare next-gen battery startups looking to innovate around new materials, new production techniques, and nanotechnology. Here’s 13 battery startups to watch in 2013.

Leyden’s series C round of $10 million came from existing investors including NEA, Lightspeed Ventures, Sigma Partners and Walden International. The company has raised $48 million in venture capital since it was founded.

Images courtesy of Leyden Energy.

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Huawei was on hand to show off it latest wares, including the 6.1-inch Ascend Mate. While the large screen looked fine with its 1280 x 720 resolution, I think that display is large enough for Huawei to push the envelope into higher resolution. That would also push this phone into offering a more tablet-like experience. The Mate uses Huawei’s own processor design and the company said this week that its next chip will have 8 cores.

Vizio is another company you might not think of when it comes to mobile devices. Yet at the CES, it was showing off both Android phones and tablets. The handsets are aimed at the Chinese market, so we may never see them here. Surprisingly, the larger model, a 5-incher, does have a 1920 x 1080 display.

It’s powered by a dual-core Qualcomm chip and runs Android 4.1. A smaller 4.7-inch handset at 720p resolution is also heading to Asia running on a chip from MediaTek. Both handsets support 42 Mbps HSPA+ on AT&T’s frequencies if you plan to import one.

As the CES was winding down, some Android developers were updating their applications. Dropbox is a prime example, offering an update to its Android app on Friday. The new version adds a public photo sharing functionality. After you get the update on your Android, you’ll see a new icon on the Photos tab to select photos.

These selected images are saved on Dropbox in a sharable folder which gets a unique link. That link can be emailed or posted to either Facebook or Twitter, making it super simple to share photos. I find it exceptionally handy because I have Dropbox set to auto-upload my camera photos from all of my devices when on a Wi-Fi network; they’re always in the cloud.

I’d be remiss if didn’t mention my favorite Android gadget from CES and it was one I didn’t expect: Nvidia’s Project Shield gaming device. Cramming Android on a Tegra 4, a 5-inch 1280 x 720 resolution display and wireless connectivity into what looks like a game console makes for an interesting form factor. The unit plays Android games, of course, but also titles from Steam or a PC on the same network.

My only concern about Shield is the price as Nvidia has said it won’t sell it below cost and try to make a profit on the content. My hope is that Shield costs no more than $200, but I suspect it will be at least $100 more when it comes to market.

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